Finance Minister takes exception to MLP leader's comments

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech yesterday accused Labour leader Joseph Muscat of making statements based on rumours and half-truths when he spoke at a meeting with the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU on Tuesday.

On taxation, Mr Fenech said that the tax burden in 19 other EU member states is higher than that of Malta. He quoted the Forbes Tax Misery Report, which listed Malta as the most tax-friendly country in Europe.

The departure tax will be removed on both air and sea journeys in November, the minister pointed out.

Mr Fenech said that the call for an impact assessment on the surcharge is simply a populist move and provides no solutions. The call proved that the Labour Party is ignoring the real challenges the country is facing within the context of rising oil prices.

With regard to the vehicle registration tax, Mr Fenech argued that, after consultations with the parties involved, the government had made its proposals in its pre-budget document. Mr Fenech accused Dr Muscat of not knowing about the existence of this document and said that this issue will be tackled in the next budget.

Mr Fenech also denied raising taxes for businesses and said that the government had actually implemented a number of measures that had a positive impact on this sector.